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WhatisAgile

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on October 19, 2006 at 7:01:44 pm
 

What is Agile?

 

Agile might be called iterative and incremental development or adaptive project management.

 

Perhaps the next shortest explanation of Agile is the Agile Manifesto.

 

The first principle (that the creators of the Agile Manifesto identified) is:

 

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer

through early and continuous delivery

of valuable software.

 

This principle implies that Agile is only about delivering software. By contrast, some parts of Agile are mainly or solely about projects -- projects of any sort. In this principle many will also recognize some key ideas also associated with Lean.

 

The Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto says:

 

We are uncovering better ways of developing

software by doing it and helping others do it.

Through this work we have come to value:

 

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

 

That is, while there is value in the items on

the right, we value the items on the left more.

 

See agilemanifesto.org for more information on the Agile Manifesto and Agile Principles.

 

Agile Flavors:

Agile is also associated with the following:

Scrum

Extreme Programming (XP)

Agile Project Management (aka Extreme Project Management, Radical Project Management)

FDD (Feature Driven Development)

Lean (in some firms, Agile is considered the Lean method for IT projects)

Lean Software Development

Agile Modeling

Adaptive Software Development (ASD)

Crystal Clear and Other Crystal Methodologies

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)

Agile Unified Process (AUP)

Dialogue-Driven Development (d3)

EVO (evolutionary development)

 

Why firms adopt Agile

We have heard firms adopt Agile for the following reasons:

  • Faster Time To Market (TTM)
  • Faster product innovation (arguably the same as TTM, although different to some)
  • Faster adaptation to change (change in all domains, external and internal)
  • More Business Value from IT projects, per month or quarter
  • Reduction in failure rates for IT projects (usually not phrased this way publicly)
  • Better collaboration between Business and IT
  • Better working environment for IT staff; higher satisfaction for IT associates
  • A better way of working (we think they mean less politics, better human relationships, more honesty, more sense of purpose, etc.)
  • As a way of more effectively implementing iterative and incremental development
  • Better assurance of producing what the customer really needs now (not what he said he needed 9 months ago)

 

More information

For more information please see Resources and ScrumResources.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development#Adaptation_of_agile_methods

for a relatively short discussion.

See also this HBR article about new product development and faster product evolution: http://apln-richmond.pbwiki.com/f/New%20New%20Prod%20Devel%20Game.pdf

This article led to the development of Scrum, and these ideas are embedded in many parts of all Agile flavors.

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